Learning as the Go
by arianapeterson19
Summary: Shorts from the same universe as " Winging It " and " Home Base ". Requests welcomed.
1. Chapter 1

Parking the green 1987 Jeep Wrangler near the boardwalk, Steve turned towards the passenger, trying to exude calm and cool collectedness like Coulson always did but it came off more and nervous puppy who peed the sofa if his passengers face was anything to go by.

"You have your cell phone?" asked Steve.

"Yes," said Emmy with a smile. "And I'll call you or Daddy if I need anything, I promise. Don't worry."

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" asked Steve, glancing out the window behind his fifteen year old daughter to the growing crowd meandering along the sidewalk, all enjoying the view or the shops or each other. "I mean, we can leave and it'll be fine."

"I'm not standing up the first guy with the nerve to ask me out," said Emmy, her voice soft – a quality she never quite lost from her childhood – but eyes narrowed stubbornly. "Look, I'll check in every hour if that makes you feel better but I'm going."

"Okay," sighed Steve. He leaned over and gave Emmy a hug. "Be careful."

"Always," said Emmy before jumping out of the car and joining the crowd, making her way to the open concept restaurant where she was supposed to be meeting her date – a boy by the name of Clark.

Steve waited until he saw her enter the restaurant before pulling away from the curb and back out into traffic. Everything seemed to be moving so quickly; the super soldier could have sworn that just yesterday he was sitting in a courtroom with his husband, waiting to see it the tiny, silent little red head would be announced theirs forever and now he was dropping her off for her first date. It had been a shock when Emmy had approached him yesterday afternoon and asked if he could drive her to the boardwalk. At first, Steve thought she was meeting up with friends but then it became apparent that it was just one friend, that friend was a boy, and he had never met him. Still, Emmy was still so shy and quiet that he didn't want to tell her no and scare her off of taking a chance again, so Steve had called Tony – who was overseas at a conference – and after a short, exuberant conversation, they agreed to let their only daughter go on the date.

Emmy sat at the table near the window, the one with the best vantage point where she could see both the entrance, kitchen, and anyone approaching. Being raised by super spies and paranoid ex assassins had ensured that she was always looking for anything out of the ordinary. She had met Clark at a press conference. He was a reporter for his high school paper and she had been hiding backstage while her family was on stage. They had started talking and soon enough he asked her out.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" asked the waitress, a girl in her early twenties with spikey pink hair and a pierced eyebrow.

"Just water please," said Emmy politely. "I'm still waiting on someone."

"Okay," said the girl brightly. "I'll just grab them a water as well. My name is Juniper, yell if you need anything."

Juniper left and Emmy gazed around, trying to spot Clark in the crowds. He should have been easy to pick out with his dark hair and pale skin but she didn't see anyone who fit that description. As the minutes ticked by, Emmy began to feel more and more shame building in her chest. Finally, after an hour and a half, she had to admit that she had been stood up.

"I think I'll have the check now," said Emmy when Juniper came over yet again to offer her more soda – which she had ordered at the twenty minute mark.

"Don't worry about it," said Juniper with a small smile. "This one is on me. Not all people suck."

Before Emmy could respond, insist on paying, or just make a flustered comment, Juniper was gone, checking on a table of six college students.

Slowly, Emmy stood up and made her way to the door, pulling out her phone as she did.

"Hello?" said Emmy when the call connected. "Hey. Can you come get me?"

-Life Without Instructions-

He spotted her sitting on a bench, staring at the ocean. She was easy to see, her bright red hair made sure of that. After he parked his car, he joined her, sitting silently next to her and for a time, neither spoke.

"Thanks for coming," said Emmy softly, not removing her eyes from the waves as they crashed upon the sand.

"Anytime," replied Peter.

"No, I mean it," said Emmy, finally looking up at her older brother. "I know you were on a date with Gwen."

"You know Gwen," said Peter with a grin, throwing one gangly arm around her slim shoulders and pulling her closer when he felt her shivering in the brisk sea breeze. "She wanted to get to doing her homework anyway. I think she wants to graduate early or something."

The siblings her silent after that for almost ten minutes, allowing the waves and general background noise of people walking by fill the air between them. Eventually, Peter removed his worn red zipper up sweat shirt and made the smaller girl put it on.

"I should get home," said Emmy quietly, her hands twitching in her lap and Peter glowed with pride at how she fought the urge to revert back to sign language and silence, her old security blankets.

"Okay," said Peter, standing up and pulling her with him, easily guiding her back to his car.

When he parked the car in the private parking garage and got out, Emmy balked.

"You don't have to stay," said Emmy, fidgeting with the hem of her borrowed jacket. "It's still early, you can get back to your date."

"Naw," said Peter easily, guiding them both to the elevator. "Free food here. College food is the worst. I heard that Uncle Bruce was cooking."

Emmy smiled a little and followed Peter into the common room when the elevator doors opened.

"If Bucky ate all the chicken I swear I won't come home again until Thanksgiving," yelled Peter in way of announcing his presence.

Emmy used his distraction to slip off to her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. She asked JARVIS to play 'Hey Jude' before kicking off her shoes, changing into purple sweat pants, and laying down on her bed.

In the kitchen, Peter had made himself right at home at the island, swiping carrots from the bowl in the center while Bruce toiled away at the stove, finishing up with the last of the preparations for a late dinner.

"Not that we're not happy to see you but what brings you home?" asked Natasha, taking down plates from their shelves.

"Emmy," said Peter, his face losing some of it's mirth. "She needed a ride."

"What?" said Steve, looking up from where he was washing one of the metal mixing bowls. "She said she would call me when her date was done. You didn't need to drive all the way back from school."

"Yeah well considering her date never showed up I think you can forgive her for going off script," replied Peter.

"What?" yelled the collective Avengers, turning on the twenty year old with various expressions of shock and anger.

"The guy never showed," growled Peter. "He stood her up! Her very first date and the guy doesn't show. What the hell?"

"Language," said Steve out of habit.

Bucky stood up and started marching out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" yelled Steve.

"Some asshole just stood up my niece," growled Bucky. "I'm going to assume you've got a shotgun Steve, so I'm going to get the shovel. Natasha, pick out one of the cars with enough room in the trunk to hold a body. Meet up in the garage in five."

"Whoa," said Bruce, holding out his hands, causing the others to pause. "Aren't we being a little hasty? Yes, we're all upset that this happened but let's not make any rash decisions."

Bucky paused, thought over his plan, and then grinned before looking up at the ceiling.

"JARVIS, would you be a dear and pull up Star Trek Into Darkness in the living room for us?" asked Bucky sweetly.

"Of course," said JARVIS and everyone could hear the eye roll in the AI's tone.

"I'll grab the brat," said Bucky, still grinning fiercely. "Bruce, you make the popcorn."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" asked Bruce, eyeing Bucky suspiciously.

"You were right," said Bucky, shrugging. "We were making rushed choices. It's much better to wait for Tony to get home."

Bruce almost regretted stopping the mob – they would have been far quicker with punishment than Tony – but the heartbroken look on Emmy's face when she joined them in the living room for the movie was enough to send that almost-regret far away.


	2. Something Right

It was supposed to be an easy battle. Peter was old enough to watch Emmy, they both were smart enough to know better than to open the door to strangers, the battle was almost a hundred miles from where they were so really it should have been fine. The problem was that there is trouble of more than one kind.

Peter and Emmy sat on the couch together watching the news. The hotel they were staying at with their fathers was nice, they had ordered room service since it was almost dinner time, and the news made them feel connected.

"See, they are fine, Emmy," said Peter with a slight smile, pointing at the screen as the Avengers fought some strange form of mutant slug.

Emmy rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting; Peter was thirteen and thought he knew everything.

They heard it before they felt it. It sounded a bit like rolling thunder or perhaps a train but the noise didn't actually register as significant until the shaking started.

"Earthquake!" screamed Peter.

Quickly he grabbed Emmy's hand and pulled her to the table since the ground was rocking too hard for them to reach a door. They huddled under the table as things began to fall off the shelves. Ceiling tiles detached from the ceiling and the entire floor began to crack with a sickening sound.

"Shit!" yelled Peter, curling protectively around Emmy as best he could when the ceiling gave in entirely and the floor decided to follow suit, sending them crashing down with all the other useless debris.

They fell and kept falling, tumbling into things they couldn't see for all the dust and the only thing Peter knew for sure was that Emmy was still tucked against him and he was entirely too thankful that she was small for her age.

The earthquake ended several minutes before everything else settled. When they finally chanced a glance around, Emmy and Peter found themselves buried, the only thing saving them from utter destruction being a large slab of floor at an angle above their heads.

"Peter?" whispered Emmy. "You okay?"

"I think so," said Peter, sitting up slightly and feeling his hair with his hands. "I'm not bleeding. You?"

"I'm okay," said Emmy, wincing as she scooted closer to her brother.

"Don't worry," said Peter, putting his arm around Emmy, knowing her fear of the dark had to be creeping in. "I'm sure Dad and Papa will be here soon."

"They were fighting far away," said Emmy softly. "They don't even know what happened. They won't be here soon."

"You doubt JARVIS?" said Peter, forcing his voice to be light and teasing. "You really think our overprotective family would have left us all alone without something monitoring us?"

Emmy shook her head and didn't reply because there was nothing to say. She knew that logistically there was going to be some wait-time before their family even started unearthing them but she didn't think saying it out loud would make anything better.

-Life Without Instructions-

"Sir," said JARVIS, his tone mildly panicked, with for the AI meant on the verge of shorting out.

"Little busy," replied Tony, rolling in mid air to dodge another stream of fire.

"There has been an earthquake of significant magnitude with it's epicenter 0.8 miles from the hotel Miss Emmy and Young Peter are staying," replied JARVIS, ignoring the usual instruction from his creator that meant not to continue with his line of speaking.

"Damage?" demanded Tony.

"It seems the hotel they were staying at along with most of the buildings in the surrounded area have partially collapsed."

"Guys, if we could finish this up like, yesterday, that would be great," said Tony as calmly as he could.

"What do you think we've been trying to do?" snapped Clint, firing off another volley of arrows from the side of a billboard.

"Earthquake near the hotel," reported Tony coldly. "JARVIS says it's collapsed. Emmy and Pete are still inside."

It wasn't like the Avengers had been fighting at anything less than 97 percent before, because they hadn't, but at the news that their younger members needed them every one stepped up their game. They were no longer aiming to main and question later, they aimed to end the battle as quickly as possible, firing with scary precision and working in a cohesive group that was previously unseen. It was frightening and suddenly one had to wonder what would happen if this group ever turned to the dark side.

Twenty-seven minutes, that's how long it took them to wrap up their mission. It was exactly twenty-seven minutes too long for any of them. Where they normally stayed to help clean up and contain their advisories, they left that to the agents who had finally arrived, flying off instead to their hotel.

When they arrived, it was utter chaos. People were crying and screaming, things were smoking, and the hotel. The hotel was nothing more than a jumbled pile of glorified building, perhaps the bottom two floors still intact and even that was a loose term. The rest of it looked like the Hulk had wanted that spot for a nap and promptly beat it down to create a nest of rubble.

"Shit," cursed Clint softly as they unloaded from the jet.

Tony analyzed the building as best he could, seeking out life forms but there was too much interference from the debris to tell. When that failed, Tony had JARVIS reconstruct the building in his visor so he could visualize where his children would end up.

"We need to start digging," announced Tony. "But it's going to be slow going. Nobody move anything they aren't absolutely sure is on top. In fact, Bruce, you and Steve need to start ground control. Help anyone who knows exactly where their people are."

"I'm not leaving until I know Peter and Emmy are alright," growled Steve.

Tony turned to his husband, his visor going down so they could talk face to face.

"Baby, I love you but you weigh too much," said Tony bluntly. "The more weight we have shifting around on their the more likely we are to crush them. I can hover, Clint and Natasha walk like fucking birds. I will have JARVIS feeding you constant updates. Hell, he can give you a play by play if you want, but this, right now, arguing about who is going to be up there, is stupid and pointless and costing them time they might not have."

"But-"

"I know you want to help," said Tony softly. "But you being Captain America, helping others, that's where I need you. Okay?"

Steve nodded, looking for all the world like a dejected puppy.

"Make sure they're okay," said Steve quietly.

"They're our kids," replied Tony with a tight smile. "They wouldn't dream of being anything else."

-Life Without Instructions-

"When I was really little I had a mom," whispered Emmy.

"You did?" said Peter, surprised by this information more than he should have been.

"Yes," said Emmy. "She wasn't very kind."

"Oh," said Peter. He was never sure what to say when Emmy talked about her past (which was not often). "I had a mom too. And a dad. They were amazing. We played games and went to neat places. Then they got in an accident and I went to live with my aunt and uncle. But they were pretty old and my uncle died so I had to live with a friend. Then Uncle Phil brought me to Dad and Papa."

"Do you ever miss your first parents?" asked Emmy.

"Sometimes," admitted Peter. "But not because I don't love Dad and Papa. I just miss my first parents because of all the good memories I have of them. You know?"

"Not really," said Emmy softly.

The rubble above them shifted, sending smaller bits and dust down on their heads.

"Oi!" yelled Peter up at the dim light. "We're trying to have sibling bonding time down here, so if you could not fall on our heads, that would be great."

"Peter," giggled Emmy. "Rocks don't understand people."

"Well they should," grumbled Peter.

"Peter?" came a muffled call.

"Yes?" replied Peter suspiciously. "Emmy, please tell me the rocks did not just talk back."

"Uncle Clint!" squealed Emmy, looking up at their makeshift roof.

"Peter! Emmy!" yelled Clint. More rubble shifted. "Tony, Nat, I have them but I can't lift this slab."

There were the brief sound of repulsers then blinding daylight filtered in, causing both children to cringe and slam their eyes shut.

"Hey kids," said Clint with a grin, jumping and landing lightly in the cramped crater.

"Took you long enough," said Peter with a grin. "What, did you stop for ice-cream?"

"Maybe," said Clint before pulling Peter in for a hug. Emmy stayed firmly seated on the ground, watching with wide eyes but not saying a word.

"Emmy! Peter!" yelled Steve, vaulting over the lip of the crater.

"Papa!" said Peter with a tearful smile, jumping from Clint to Steve where he sniffed in the most manly way possible. "I was so scared."

"Hey, you're okay," said Steve soothingly.

"You okay, Emmy?" asked Clint, crouching next to the seven year old.

"My arm hurts," said Emmy softly. "I think I'd like to go home now."

"Let's take a look, kiddo," said Clint.

Emmy held out her arm and allowed Clint to take it in his rough hands, inspecting the damage.

"Probably just a fracture," assessed Clint. "We'll let Uncle Bruce have a look."

Tony arrived, fresh out of the suit, and joined the growing group in the hollow. He hugged Peter and picked Emmy off the ground. It was a more difficult task than it had been when she first came to them three years before but it was still entirely too easy.

"You two okay?" asked Tony, holding her close and reaching out to keep a hand on Peter as if he thought the boy would disappear if he wasn't touching him.

"Bruised but okay," reported Peter. "Can we go?"

"Yes," said Steve.

The super soldier pulled his son out of the crater and helped him pick his way down to the ground while Clint followed, keeping one hand on Tony's elbow to steady the billionaire as he carried Emmy. When they were safely on the ground, every Avenger loaded into the jet. It was by an unspoken agreement that today they would just be a family and take care of their own instead of the rest of the world.

"Ducky, you need to let go so Uncle Bruce and see your arm," said Tony.

Emmy shook her head and burrowed deeper into Tony's arms. Steve and Tony exchanged worried looks; it had been a while since Emmy had gotten so clingy that she wouldn't allow anyone else to help her.

"Peter, you want to learn how to fly the jet?" asked Natasha casually.

"Yes!" said Peter excitedly. "Can I, Papa?"

"Aunt Natasha has to do take off and landing but yes, as long as she promises to be right next to you the entire time you may learn to fly," said Steve.

"Thank you!"

Peter hugged Steve then ran to the front of the jet, excitedly babbling about each switch to Natasha – his favorite family member next to his immediate family. Steve mouthed a quick thank you to the spy before turning his attention back to Emmy. He felt a pang of guilt at not being able to give Peter more attention but it was a smaller pang than it had been in the past. Steve had long ago understood that Emmy needed special care and Peter never seemed to mind. The boy loved Emmy and bounced back from every encounter in a way that she never would.

"Baby, can you look at me for a sec?" asked Steve softly, sitting next to Tony so all Emmy had to do was peek her eyes up a bit. "Sweetheart, can you tell us what's wrong?"

"It was so dark," whispered Emmy brokenly. "It was dark and I knew you were coming but I also knew it was going to be forever before you got us. I kept seeing things from – from before. And I didn't want to because that's scary. And Petey was scared and I didn't want to scare him more but it was dark and we couldn't get out!"

"That must have been really scary," said Steve, nodding along while Tony rubbed Emmy's back. "But I am so proud of you. You were so brave."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were. You were scared but you remembered that Daddy and I always come back. You were scared but you were worried about Petey. That's very brave, sweetheart."

"It was?"

"Yup. You're the bravest kid I know. Now, do you think we could let Uncle Bruce take a look at that arm of yours? You can stay with Daddy the whole time if you want."

"Okay," whispered Emmy. "But I think Daddy should go check on Petey. He acts pretty brave but he was really scared down there. Daddy, you should help Aunt Nat teach him how to fly, he'd like that."

"You sure, Ducky?" asked Tony.

"Yes," said Emmy reluctantly. "Papa, you'll stay?"

"Of course," said Steve with a smile.

"Okay," said Emmy. "Then go take care of Petey, Daddy. Papa's got me."

Tony beamed at his little girl who could be terrified and still offer up her preferred method of comfort – him – to someone else. He still – after 3 years – wasn't sure he was a good parent but he had to be doing something right.


End file.
